1295.
Tissue of Cotton Warp and Silk and Gold Woof; ground, now yellow; design, eagles in pairs, divided by rayed orbs, amid foliage all in gold. Sicilian, middle 14th century. 6½ inches by 5½ inches.
The eagles are about to take wing, and are pecking at the rays of, seemingly, the sun which separates them. The foliage is much like, in form, that which so often occurs on works from the looms of Palermo; and, in all likelihood, the ground, now yellow, was once of a fawn-colour. Though good in design, this stuff is made of poor materials, the silk in it is small, and the gold of such a base quality that it has become a dusky brown.